» 'Threadbare' UK forces can't sustain even small military intervention

'Threadbare' UK forces can't sustain even small military intervention

Published: Saturday, February 26, 2011, 16:00 [IST]

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London, Feb 26 (ANI): Senior British officers have said that the country's forces would struggle to mount even a small scale military intervention because they do not have 'any protection against an unexpected' situation.

They have also warned that the chances of an operation to rescue people from conflicting areas like Libya would be vulnerable in the coming months as more equipment is pushed out of service under defence cuts, The Telegraph reports.

Their comments come after Forces chiefs warned Prime Minister David Cameron that cuts to Harrier jets and aircraft carrier Ark Royal would put personnel at "considerable risk", the paper said.

The Army reportedly has only one battalion on standby for emergency operations called the Spearhead Lead Element, and even this battalion is said to be struggling to get the correct equipment for training.

The paper quoted an officer as saying that: "We have cut our cloth very small and if we bit off more than we could chew we would be in trouble. We certainly could not do an operation like Sierra Leone again because we have no fast jets. Even to achieve and sustain a foothold ashore would be difficult."

Another senior Navy officer said that an operation could be "sustained for a few days only".

"We just don't have anymore any protection against the unexpected which is always bound to happen. The locker is not just empty it's completely threadbare," he added.

In Libya, Britain would also face a much better equipped military than the Taliban because Cairo has Mirage fast jets, fast missile boats, warships, advanced surface to air missiles and tanks, the paper added. (ANI)